This disclosure relates to a core employable in a casting process to manufacture a part.
Gas turbine engines are widely used in aircraft propulsion, electric power generation, ship propulsion and pumps. Many gas turbine engine parts are manufactured in a casting process. One example casting process is known as investment casting. Investment casting can be used to manufacture metallic parts having relatively complex geometries, such as gas turbine engine parts requiring internal cooling circuits. Blades and vanes are examples of such parts.
The investment casting process utilizes a mold having one or more mold cavities that include a shape generally corresponding to a part to be cast. A wax pattern of the part can be formed by injecting wax material around a ceramic core. A shell is formed around the core in a shelling process. The shell is fired to harden the shell and form the mold, which includes the shell having one or more part defining compartments that include the core. Molten material is communicated into the mold to cast the part. The shell and core are removed once the molten material cools and solidifies, thereby providing a cast part having an internal cooling circuitry.
The cast part may require cooling holes that are drilled into the body of the part. Such cooling holes may be desired to extend part life because of the relatively extreme operating conditions the part can be subjected to during engine operation.